Nouvelles
« Are you serious about making your mark, getting hands-on work experience and learning more about careers in the Ontario Public Service? These positions at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Guelph, Ontario will provide an excellent opportunity for those interested in a career in horticulture crop production, pest management, research or the agricultural service sector. Crops may include fruits, vegetables and ornamentals. These positions will provide the opportunity to learn about horticulture crop production, plant diseases, insect pests, integrated pest management (IPM) and agronomy in the horticulture crop sectors within the province. Training will be provided on research methods, technology transfer and working in the public sector. »
Six temporary positions based in Guelph, Ontario for up to 18 weeks are available. Closing date is February 2, 2017. See flyer for more details and how to apply.
By Staffan Lindgren @bslindgren
Ever since childhood, I have been happiest crawling around turning over rocks, removing bark from stumps and inspecting every potential animal I can see. Early on, I was pretty much on my own, except for encouragement from my parents. At an early age, even before I reached teenage, I started joining various organizations that catered to likeminded geeks. Over the years, I have been involved in, or a member of literally dozens of such organizations. Central to my fascination has always been insects, and my dream was always to become an entomologist.
The first entomological society I joined was “Sveriges Entomologiska Förening” in Sweden. Because I grew up in a small northern town, I never really had the privilege of getting to know other members, and before I had much of a chance I was off to Canada. By then I had made some connections to Swedish entomologists through the professors, lecturers, and students of Umeå University, the Royal College of Forestry (now part of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) and Uppsala University. I remained a member of SEF for some years, but once I knew that my planned return to Sweden was not going to happen, I gave that membership up in favour of the societies that I had joined and had closer connections with in North America. I have now been a member in good standing of the Entomological Society of Canada, ESBC, and ESA for more than 35 years, which is almost the entire time I have lived in Canada. I have served each of these societies in executive or other functions, most recently for four years on the executive of the ESC. Through these societies, I have gotten to know many colleagues who I now regard as friends as much as colleagues, I have established research collaborations, and gained a lot of knowledge that I would have missed by only reading what happened to be directly relevant to my own interests. In my opinion, I would not have had what little success I have enjoyed without my engagement in scientific society life.
Due to the unfortunate circumstances of my successor as President, I am currently Acting Past-President. One of my duties is to chair the Nominations Committee, which identifies individuals willing to put their name forward to serve on the ESC Governing Board (If you are interested in putting your name forward for 2nd Vice-President or Director-at-Large, PLEASE CONTACT ME!). In order to help me with this task, I requested a copy of the 2016 membership list. In going through the spreadsheet, I was rather disturbed at the absence of numerous individuals, some of whom have previously served important roles in promoting the ESC (you know who you are!). I know that it is easy to forget to pay the membership dues, but I have a feeling that the reasons for opting out are not always that simple. In the next week or so, memberships will expire, and it is time to once again contribute to your national and regional societies. I know that it seems like a lot of money, but if you think about it, we are talking about sums that are unlikely to break the bank of anyone. The ESC regular membership would be paid off by giving up about 60 cups of Tim Horton’s coffee or 30 cups of Starbucks special coffees. In other words, you would have to forego only about 2-3 cups of Starbucks per month to save enough. It may not seem that supporting the ESC gives you much in return, but if the society is not supported, it would mean that the Canadian Entomologist (one of the oldest journals in the world), the Bulletin, and the Annual meetings would cease to exist. That also means that opportunities to mix with likeminded geeks become more expensive and less frequent. That would be a shame, wouldn’t it?
Please, go to the computer right now and join or renew as a member of the ESC (and whatever Regional Society that is close to you). The ESC needs your support, and I believe you will benefit from being part of the national entomological family of Canada. For me, it has been a privilege to be part of one of the most welcoming and inclusive group of people in science. Please join me!
The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba invites applications from Indigenous (e.g., First Nations, Métis, Inuit) Scholars for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor, commencing July 1, 2017, or as soon as possible thereafter, in one of the following broad disciplines: Agricultural Business/Economics; Food/Nutritional Sciences; or Agricultural Production/Ecology. Identification of a specific Department (Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, Animal Science, Biosystems Engineering, Entomology, Food Science, Human Nutritional Sciences, Plant Science, Soil Science) will be based on the area of specialty of the successful candidate. The position will be weighted at approximately 45% teaching, 40% research and 15% service/outreach. Qualified applicants must possess: a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline; a record of independent research as demonstrated by scholarly publications; the potential for developing an active externally-funded research program including supervision of graduate students; demonstrated ability or potential for excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching; and excellent oral and written communication skills. The successful candidate will be required to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in their area of expertise with inclusion of Indigenous perspectives and approaches. We also envisage that the Scholar will work closely with other instructors to help include Indigenous knowledge and perspectives for all students.
Closing date for applications is February 27, 2017.
For more information & how to apply, see this flyer (PDF).
Interested in working with agricultural research entomologists in Saskatchewan? Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is hiring!
Research Assistant – Entomology
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Science and Technology Branch Saskatoon (Saskatchewan)
Permanent Full Time // Temporary part time // $55,840 to $67,936 (Salary under review)
Closing date: 7 December 2016 – 23:59, Pacific Time
Who can apply: Persons residing in Canada and Canadian citizens residing abroad.
More information & application
Duties
-Assist in the development, adaptation, and implementation of protocols to collect research data on insect pest impact and management in field and controlled conditions
-identify insect pests of field crops and their natural enemies
-rear insects in laboratory and field cages
-adapt lab and field equipment and protocols as required to meet research needs
-assist with the planning and execution of surveys for invasive insect pests and their natural enemies
-summarize data and assist with preparation of reports, extension materials, presentations, and research articles
-assist with staffing of students, train students, and coordinate their work
-procure and manage laboratory and field supplies
Learn more about this position and apply on the AAFC website.
By Rama – Commons file, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53046764
Last winter, I spent a few months working on insect identifications for the BC Conservation Data Centre, mostly collections of insects made at newly-acquired conservation lands in the Okanagan and Kootenay regions of BC.
As I had no laboratory of my own, and no reference collections to work with, I was working out of the ROM, back behind Antonia Guidotti’s office in the entomology workroom. This place, in midwinter, is usually a little lonely, as Antonia has a lot of work to do all around the collection. And so mostly in solitude, I would sit there at my microscope, stumbling through insect IDs, learning what I could about a vast array of taxa, and listening to an inordinate amount of Leonard Cohen’s music.
Somehow, I feel the mood of Leonard Cohen’s later works lends itself so well to solitary entomology pursuits. The consummate outsider, looking closely and inwardly at the human condition, and yet always so aware of a wider world, Leonard’s music has many parallels to sitting at a scope, baffled by Nature’s diversity and wondering how it all fits together.
(As an aside, when I was going through scads of unfortunate, dead, trapped insects, the song « Who by Fire » seemed morbidly appropriate)
Occasionally, from the lab bench, I would reach out to the other folks online, sharing my discoveries through Twitter (the entomology workroom has a modest wireless connection!).
How excited I was, having lived in BC most my life to discover the wonderful piglet bug Bruchomorpha beameri, a wonderful fulgoroid planthopper that I had no idea even existed before taking this contract!
It was heartening, sitting there alone, singing softly along to Leonard Cohen that people out there on Twitter responded so well to my excitement at discovering these treasures, and offering helpful advice. Terry Wheeler was especially helpful when I was stumbling over some puzzling scathophagids from the Peace District.
Connecting with people like Terry, who encouraged me through my ID struggles made me feel that despite being on the outer edges of my knowledge and what could reasonably be called paid employment in entomology, people cared about what I was doing and were there if I needed them.
With the help of Terry, Antonia, Laura Timms, Lu Musetti, and the great Leonard Cohen, I struggled my way through my contract, and my first eastern winter. Last week, Leonard Cohen died, leaving a huge hole in Canadian songwriting. We still have his recordings and poems to keep us company, though no matter what we are doing.
On Tuesday, I will head back to the ROM as a volunteer, to help sort out some of the ant collection, to the best of my ability. Perhaps I will listen to some of Leonard Cohen’s music, and tweet out some of what I find to connect me and my entomology work to the wider world.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW7oNpzBSGc&w=560&h=480]
CONTACTER LA SOCIÉTÉ
Assistant administratif : info@esc-sec.ca
SEC Président : ESCPresident@esc-sec.ca
This post is also available in: